Early the next day, December 20th, it was spotted by birders. I joined Jason Horn and Rick Wiltraut and we drove the roughly 4-1/2 hours to where it was being seen. Even though we left soon after its finding, we found out that the bird had flown off about a half-hour before we got there. We stayed overnight and spent the entire next day looking for the bird, but it had once again flown off to parts unknown.
That was until Friday afternoon when a property owner on the coast of Maine took a photo of it from her porch! The photo was posted late in the afternoon, but the few "locals" that were able to reach the site before dark couldn't find it. Then early on Saturday, birders refound the bird in the same general area. I met Mike and Corinne Schall and Jon Mularczyk at the Route 33 'Park and Ride' around 11 PM on New Year's Eve and drove the seven hours to Maine.
We got there about a half-hour before daylight on New Year's Day, set up on the dock at Five Islands, and started looking for the bird at dawn. While looking, some of the notable birds we saw included Common Eider, Surf Scoter, Purple Sandpiper, Black Guillemot, Red-throated and Common Loon, and Bald Eagle. I got photos of some of them.
Rain was expected to move in soon. Somewhere around 9 AM in light drizzle, I was scoping to the north and spotted a dark blob on the shore of a rocky island. I had my scope at its 45-power limit when the blob flew a very short distance away from me and landed on top of the rocky island. As it flew, I noticed a mostly dark bird with a white tail. My initial thought was Bald Eagle, but now the bird was standing in a profile position and I was pretty sure I was seeing a white shoulder patch! Jon was right next to me with his 60-power Swarovski scope, so I asked if I could take a look through his scope. When I cranked it all the way up to the max, the white shoulder patch was pretty obvious and when the bird turned its head, I could see a large beak. I was 99% positive that I was looking at the Steller's Sea-Eagle! I told Jon to take a look and see what he thought, and he looked at me with a big grin on his face. He called over Mike and Corinne to take a look before we announced that we had the bird in the scope. We directed others on it, but I figured it was at least a half-mile away. I was really hoping that this wasn't going to be the only look I had of it. Soon afterwards, it took off and luckily flew towards us but disappeared behind the trees on the near shoreline. Seconds later, Jon spotted it as it reappeared from behind the trees and glided along the west side of Crow Island where it landed in the top of a tree just to the north of our location! I quickly snapped photos, not sure how long it was going to be in sight.
The excitement combined with the clicking of camera shutters took over the dock. I was too enthralled to look at the time, but I believe it was around 9:30 when the bird took off and flew right by us!
It then landed atop another tree on Malden Island, the island just to the south of the dock.
Eventually, it flew farther away, landing on a snag for a while before flying off to the south. The twenty or so birders that were present at first light had now turned into at least a hundred enjoying the show. We left soon after with huge smiles on our faces that, as Clark Griswold said in the "Vacation" movie, we were going to have to get surgically removed. I was back home by 6:30 PM and, even though I had driven the whole 884 miles without sleep, I was still wired enough to spend the next several hours processing my photos, which turned out fairly well given the drizzly, overcast conditions. It was a very Happy New Year.
This bird represents the first ever record for Canada and the first ever record for the Lower 48 states! If interested, more photos of the bird can be found in my Maine Adventures Album.
Exciting! I am very jealous!
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